Teachers Transform Learning and Collaborative Edting

"Increasingly the new economy requires workers to be self-directed and self-assessing and interdependent" - Alan November



Fortunately, integrating technology makes possible transforming learning, especially when schools and teachers prepare themselves and their students for the Information Age , (and throw out the Industrial Age model) learn and employ the National Education Technology Standards (NETS), and use innovative, constructivist teaching practices appropriate for the new learning environment. Armed with this knowledge, teachers will realize that curriculums drive learning, and technology enhances it -and can potentially transform it. Or, according to Lockard and Abrams, “integration puts the emphasis squarely where it belongs: on the curriculum, not on the computer” (p. 346). If administration and the principal take the lead, and teachers adopt a vision for technology integration, then technology can transform learning. “Integrating technology into the curriculum can and does influence learning, but in a general, context-enriching – rather than causal – manner”(Hawkes & Cambre, 2001, p. 51). A transformative experience this week occurred when Harold and I collaborated online with his students editing papers. Students emailed us their papers, invited us to share their rough drafts in google docs
, and asked us to edit thier writing assignments. In google docs one can insert changes and make comments within the document: So, three people - a team - collaborating on a paper is likely to create a quality paper. More important, the learning experience is transformed - and devoid of red pen markups - since the student becomes an active participant in their learning.

Internet Safety in January. Please Read Meagan's Tragedy

Open House

I think we can all agree that the best part about the open was teachers getting together a nd enjoying each others company!

A Deliberate Pace is Progress for this Kro-Magnon Man

Slowed only by his dragging arms, K.'s Cro-Magnon man strides indicate he walks hurriedly -perhaps to the feeding troth or the head. But the fact is Cro-Magnon man walked deliberately for to waste steps meant wasting energy and that meant less energy to capture food. Mr K is a hunter (perhaps a gatherer as well) and understands that stealth and deliberate steps means getting his prey or not. So it isn't a stretch to think (yes, it is) that when he decides to use technology in the classroom (other than searching hunting sites on google earth) his decision-making is calculated, paced - so as not to misfire, thus not finding himself in uncontrolled and uncomfortable circumstances. In sum, (and to the point) K is cautious that technology does not usurp the structured learning environment that embodies his teaching practices. K has decided to use technology on his terms instead of letting technology dictate his teaching. Really, it is all part of the change process - discover, adapt and adjust, and then use (read Toffler's Future Shock for a better description) that if done too fast overload occurs. iHis calculating approach will pay dividends as his students learn to use technology as a learning tool and not a glorified music video player. And from what I have seen students have been excited about learning with and from the technology lately as opposed to be excited about using technology as a plaything. This was best iluustrated this week when the Tech Integrator showed him Hippocampus.org. I thought that the use of this site might be to supplement learning or to be used in an independent study for an advanced student. But K found a way for the site to play to his strength - that of a lecturer. I sat in on a couple of classes after hooking up the LCD projector and saw his usual good lectures become visually dynamic. Every student was engaged and discussed historical topics at such a learned and sophisticated level. Knowledge was certainly acquired. In one week, with slow, paced, deliberate thought about teaching and learning K improved his teaching style using technology not to influence his teaching practice but secondarily as an assisting tool. From this he created a self- pleasing experience encouraging confidence using with technology.

Tech at AHS....We can do that!

Read this first from eSchool News: President Bush vetoes education spending bill

Some teachers have brought to my attention that they know of schools making 30 second video Public Service Announcements, creating and publishing podcasts, using virtual labs, and listening to interactive audio books. Well, let me tell you that we have the technology to do all of these and more.

This week Mr. K has used the Hippocampus website to conduct and assist lectures for his History classes. He had students view the visual interactive audio shows on Progressivism and using a split screen opened Inspiration software for students to take notes simultaneously in the mind-map fashion. More on this in my next post....

A must read: Andy Carvin's post "One Story, 5o tools, Infinite Possiblities". And at AHS we can do any of these Web applications!!!

Student Publishing ideas that empower:

1. Podcast project ideas: Students scan and recite writing from the GW Chronicles. Or create VoiceThreads with this same info. What a great way to record our school's history. How 'bout a weekly audio interview with staff and students? How 'bout creating an audio book? Etc...
2. Video project ideas: Create 30 second Public Service Announcements and publish them.
   
3. Anybody used MS Photostory? Again using our GW Chronicles book students could scan images, put them in Photostory, narrate, and publish it.
4. How about students creating a webinar or an audioblog???

Weekly Tech Notes:

S.I.S committee members continued their search for an Student Information System by meeting with the folks from JMG. Although their database has some valuable parts, it would not meet our needs for grading and reporting unless we customized it - and this is not a viable option based on our timeline.

Next, we will 'attend' an Infinite Campus SIS webinar since this is the database the state of Maine is acquiring. In the words of our TC: If the state is purchasing it, then we should. Also, Allen C. from LHS reports: "I can tell you that as of July 1 2008 the state will be providing Infinite Campus as a replacement for Medms. Their project is to provide this functionality to schools who do not have an SIS system first, than work to integrate to other school district. They would like to have all districts in the state on this software. When or if you fit into the plan will be determined by DOE – Medms office. You can contact Bill Herwitch at 207-624-6816 for more specific information. It is not an impossibility of interconnection between you and our school district based on proper planning if the results of the above efforts." Finally, we will sit with PowerSchool users and search for a local vendor for more assistance.

Tech Integration Collaboration Revolution at AHS!

When more than one teacher develops a unit, the quality of the unit increases. When students share documents and offer advice and editing, writing improves. The focus this week has been on collaborating and learning anytime and anywhere.


Wiki's have been established for teachers wishing to integrate units with technology. What makes a Wiki useful is its ability to share and edit units collaboratively...and quickly (Wiki is Hawaiian for quick). Such group sharing and editing eliminates the time factor. That is, having to set a time to meet becomes a non-issue, however, F2F (face-to-face) meetings are obviously necessary. See Troy S. Wiki for Huck Finn. Note: It is a work in progress. Jeff S. from BRG and I have begun a Wiki for Lost on a Mountain in Maine.

Or just visit my EDBLASTING Wiki for all projects under construction!

Also, some of us have been creating a powerpoint using Google Docs new presentation tool. Like in a Wiki we are sharing in the development of the slide show for Open House. For anywhere, anytime data sharing visit Google Docs and begin considering the uses for the classroom.

To read about and view a student Wikipedia project check out one of my favorite blogs from PBS learning.now

If you get a chance check out Harold's education social networking site. We intend to develop one for Hinckley students and call it My Hinckley Space.


See this link for 'What is a Wiki?': http://www.scienceofspectroscopy.info/edit/index.php?title=Using_wiki_in_education and this one http://www.suelebeau.com/blogs.htm as a resource.

Take advantage of my PortaPortal
Type in "cruttie" in login

As a teacher, What can you take from the Internet? See the article 'Fair use' confusion threatens media literacy http://eschoolnews.com/news/showStory.cfm?ArticleID=7430

Teacher Man

Read Dugal's Teacher Man book review located after the tech updates.....

Teacher Man
A Book Review by Gary Dugal

“Frank McCourt [writes with] a comic eye, a sympathetic heart and the perfect timing of a master storyteller. Teacher Man…should be required reading not just for all teachers but for anyone who has ever stepped foot in a high school. Happily, there will be no test.”
~ Billy Collins, author of The Trouble with Poetry: And Other Poems

I couldn’t agree more with Mr. Collins’ assessment of the book Teacher Man by Frank McCourt. For those of you who don’t know, McCourt is the author who brought us the Pulitzer Prize winning novel Angela’s Ashes. I just began his prize-winning novel, but the desire to read it came as a result of my reading Teacher Man. Frank McCourt spent 20 years teaching English in the New York public school system, and what he has created in Teacher Man is a detailed memoir of his trials and tribulations from the moment he stepped into his first classroom, through all the ups and downs, to his final class and retirement from – in my opinion – a profession that is noble, challenging, rewarding, exhausting, frustrating, exhilarating, and very necessary…all at the same time.
McCourt has an incredible ability to weave a story in a way that would make ANYONE want to listen (or read). He uses humor and gravity interchangeably and he draws the reader right into the middle of the storyline. At times, I felt like I was a student in his classroom…or at least I wanted to be. The teaching of English and writing is a lonely world. As a former English teacher, I know what it feels like to be the ONLY enthusiastic participant in a class full of students. As McCourt recalls some of his more “teachable moments” I found myself being recharged with a desire to be more creative in my own pedagogy. This is not a book for English teachers alone…it’s a useful manual for all teachers, administrators, and – just as Mr. Collins notes – for anyone who has ever stepped foot in a high school. This book should be required reading for ALL!